Tomatoes and Mistletoe
by Chelty-chan and YeahWhatever12
Summary: When Sakura first met Sasuke, they were 11 and it took her a whole week just to learn what his favorite fruit was. And, it took 10 years for Sasuke to finally give her the perfect Christmas gift. AU. SASUSAKU fluff, with an Itachi cameo. Gift-fic for ChildofSea. ONE-SHOT.


**So, this is a gift-fic for ChildOfSea. Ya wanted good 'ol sweet innocent SasuSaku puppy love, took me like four days to write it, but here ya go, hope you like it!**

**This is AU, and Non-massacre.**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any affiliated characters. They are all property of Masashi Kishimoto and Shonen Jump._

**PS: when they were children, we all know Sakura was shy and a loner, and Sasuke was well, generally not so Sasuke-ish… so yeah – and I say this nicely – before you start complaining about them being OOC, please keep that in mind for the first part of the story. **

**That said, enjoy!**

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**X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

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**Day 1: MONDAY**

"Ne, Sakura-chan, why do you have two apples today?" Naruto asked, peering pointedly at the extra piece of fruit in her clear lunchbox.

"I brought one for Sasuke-kun," Sakura chirped, green eyes sparkling.

The lunch bell had just gone off a few minutes prior, and the two 11-year-olds were making their way across the playground, and towards the many benches and tables that littered the schoolyard, with the rest of their classmates.

"Why?" Naruto asked, his face scrunched up in confusion.

It was a known fact all over the school that Sakura was painfully shy and introverted – despite only having been enrolled a mere two weeks prior – and besides him and more or less Sasuke too, the only other friend she had was Ino, and even then, technically the Yamanaka didn't count, since she was at a different school.

And Naruto being Naruto, had made it a habit to drag her along to have lunch with him and the Uchiha, so she wouldn't sit alone every single day. This continued until Sakura gave in and stopped putting up a fight, and just followed him to have lunch with the boys of her own accord.

That considered, Naruto was unable to come up with a good reason as to why his friend would suddenly want to share fruit with his best friend.

"Well, if I share with him, maybe… Sasuke-kun …will like me a little bit more."

Sakura's feet unconsciously skipped a little at the thought of the Uchiha possibly liking her more, as she walked alongside Naruto, her arm swinging her lunchbox gleefully by her side.

Naruto shook his head, still frowning. "But Sasuke doesn't even like apples."

Sakura halted, Naruto stopping a few feet in front of her when he finally noticed she wasn't moving anymore. "But Ino-chan said he does."

Naruto squinted at her. "Just 'cause she said it doesn't make it true, Sakura-chan."

But she didn't hear him, having spotted Sasuke at their regular table.

As if feeling her eyes on him, he looked up and spotted them, waving an arm once to signal them over, before his attention went back to the lunchbox he was trying to open.

Retreating back into her shell, Sakura slowly, warily approached the table, Naruto running ahead of her to sit opposite the Uchiha. By the time she finally reached the table, the two were already engrossed in as intelligent banter as two 11-year-olds could manage. Which was something along the lines of '_**you're a moron**_' and '_**ew, I bet you have cooties.**_'

"H-hey…S-Sasuke-kun," Sakura started shyly to get the other's attention.

When the Uchiha turned to face her in silent question, Sakura unconsciously swallowed, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Naruto was watching them with avid interest, no doubt still trying to figure out why Sakura suddenly felt like sharing, when in the few weeks since she'd started having lunch with the two boys, she'd never even so much as spoken to the Uchiha, always content to silently eat her lunch while Naruto and Sasuke did all the talking -ahem- arguing.

"What is it, Sakura?" he asked when she said nothing more.

"O-oh, I was just wondering," shifting slightly, she quickly snapped her lunchbox open and retrieved the extra apple, holding it out to him and blurting the rest out in a rush before she lost her nerve. "I was wondering if maybe you wanted an apple. My mom packed two for me you see, and she says fruit is really good for you!"

Sakura watched with baited breath as Sasuke stared at the fruit she was offering. He continued to stare, eyebrows slowly pulling together over his brow.

"Uh…I don't really like apples all that much." He said finally, and then shrugged once, taking a bite out of his sandwich. "Sorry."

Sakura's face fell.

"Told ya so." Naruto chimed, nodding his head in what he'd probably consider a wise manner. "Sasuke doesn't like apples."

"What do you know about what I like, blockhead?" Sasuke cut in absent-mindedly, still preoccupied with his sandwich.

"Oh, that's easy," Naruto scoffed. "It's simple 'cause you hate everything!"

"I don't hate everything."

"Yeah, you do too!"

"I do not." Sasuke shot back calmly.

"Do toooooo!" Naruto taunted childishly, as he was one.

"You're a moron." Sasuke deadpanned.

Sakura sighed, and she retracted her hand to stare at the rejected fruit. And stare she did, for most of what was left of the entire lunch period, barely eating her own lunch, and only absently listening to the two boys' continued bickering.

**Day 2: TUESDAY**

Having figured Sasuke had only said no because he didn't like apples, Sakura worked up the nerve to try again the next day with a different fruit.

As usual, it was only the three of them sitting at their usual table.

"Hey…S-Sasuke-kun…would you like half of my banana?" she asked hopefully, holding up two halves of said fruit.

Again, Naruto watched on; uncharacteristically quiet as he tried to figure out what was going on with the pinkette.

The flickering flame that was Sakura's hope was quickly snuffed out when Sasuke grimaced.

"I…kinda hate bananas." As he had done the day before, he shrugged lightly, taking a bite of the sandwich he always had for lunch. "Sorry." He added when her shoulders slumped.

**Day 3: WEDNESDAY**

It took two days, but Naruto had an epiphany and finally got what was happening to his friend.

"Ne, Sakura-chaaaan," he bumped Sakura's shoulder with his, a teasing smile on his face. "You _**like**_ Sasuke, don't you?"

Sakura froze mid-step, flaming red from her neck to the roots of her pink, pink hair.

"AHA!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger. "I KNEW IT!"

"Shhhh!" Sakura hissed, grabbing his arms when Sasuke, seated already as usual at their table, looked over at them curiously at Naruto's yell.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl's reaction.

Sakura released him and stepped back, deflating. "I…just don't want him know." She scruffed the ground with her shoed toe. "You know how much Sasuke-kun hates annoying girls that like him. He won't like me anymore if I tell him I like him."

"That doesn't make any sense." Naruto tilted his head to the side, frowning minutely before he shrugged and his blinding grin was back. "But hey, if that's what you want! Don't worry Sakura-chan, your secret's safe with me!"

Sakura sweatdropped and chuckled nervously. "Ehehehe, greaaaaat."

_**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**_

"Orange, Sasuke-kun?"

Sakura resisted the urge to bang her head on the table when, as was becoming habit, Sasuke's eyebrows pulled together in a frown before he shrugged and apologized.

"I don't like Oranges because they're tart. And the skin tastes horrible if you accidentally bite into it, and it itches." He said in manner of explanation.

"I'm guessing you don't like lemons or grapefruit either?" Sakura asked him then, sullenly, too disappointed to notice that Sasuke had just said more than 8 words to her.

"Nope." Sasuke shook his head, and then _**smiled**_ at her.

And Sakura promptly stopped breathing.

**Day 4: THURSDAY**

Having struck a dead-end with all the ordinary, basic favorite fruits, Sakura decided to try something more…exotic.

"Want a Kiwi, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke paused, usual sandwich half-way to his mouth. "A Kiwi?" he repeated, raising one eyebrow.

"Yeah, a Kiwi."

Hope bubbling when he didn't immediately decline the offer, Sakura quickly opened her lunchbox, retrieved and held up said fruit….and promptly cringed when the usual sequence of reactions followed.

_**Eyebrows pulled together. Frown. Shrug. One word apology**_.

But then her ears caught his explanation for the day.

"Aniki gave me one once, but it tasted weird, so I don't like them."

"You have a brother?" the question bubbled out before she could stop it.

"Hn." Sasuke nodded, attention solely on his sandwich then.

Picking up her own sandwich, Sakura let him eat in peace, not saying anything else for fear of disturbing him. As she chewed slowly, she suddenly registered the silence at their table, and then frowned in confusion when she noticed that Naruto wasn't sitting next to her.

"Hey, where's Naruto?"

Sasuke looked up; following her line of sight to the empty spot the blonde had been sitting in after he and Sakura had first joined him.

"He left not long after you guys got here. He said he was having lunch with Hinata and Neji today. Didn't you hear him?"

Sakura flushed. She'd been too busy agonizing over her nerves to notice any of that. She opened her mouth to say she'd heard but in her confused, embarrassed state what came out was:

"Do you like Granadillas, Sasuke-kun?"

And now he was looking at her funny. She felt her face flush even redder.

"Uh….no." he answered slowly. "Not particularly."

"Why not?" She focused intently on her half-eaten sandwich, still unable to look him in the eye.

"Well, not only are they too sour, but they're also kind of gross." Sasuke grimaced. "They kinda remind me of tadpole eggs."

"That _**is**_ gross." Sakura agreed with a wince. "I'll probably never be able to eat another granadilla again."

Sasuke chuckled lightly at that.

Sakura froze. Sure, she'd heard Sasuke chuckle before…she'd just never before _**caused him to**_.

"How 'bout Pomegranates?" She asked, in an attempt to distract herself from the butterflies fluttering in her tummy at the Uchiha's laugh.

Sasuke shook his head, looking amused. "I have no idea what those even are."

"Indian fruit." Sakura shrugged, smiling shyly. "But forget it; they're a lot like Kiwis so I'm sure you wouldn't like them."

Sasuke chuckled again, and Sakura discreetly pinched her arm under the table to make sure she wasn't just daydreaming again.

_**This is the longest conversation we've ever had**_. She thought with a sigh.

"You're weird, Sakura."

She blinked at that, trying to backtrack to see if she'd accidentally spoken her thought aloud. Horrified, she opened her mouth to ask Sasuke what he meant, but he was already standing, lunchbox in hand.

As if on cue, the bell rang, its shrill squeal announcing the end of lunch.

Sasuke started towards their class, pausing only to beckon over his shoulder for her to hurry up and follow when he was a few paces away and she was still in her seat.

Mortification forgotten, Sakura beamed, face stretching with her grin, and quickly grabbed her lunchbox to run after him.

**Day 5: FRIDAY**

By the time Friday had rolled around, Sakura had all but given up on figuring out what Sasuke's favorite fruit was. But then, her answer came from the least expected source.

As they did every day at the end of school, she, Sasuke and Naruto were waiting to be picked up, having just been released.

For the first time since she'd known him, Naruto was picked up first that day. Grinning, he waved goodbye to his friends, before running towards a sleek, black BMW. The woman at the wheel, stunningly beautiful with flaming red hair, leaned out the window, smiling sunnily as she simultaneously waved at Sasuke and Sakura while calling for Naruto to hurry.

"That was his Mom." Sasuke explained after the car had left.

"Oh." Sakura stared down the road after the shrinking car wistfully. "She's really pretty." The Haruno was a little mesmerized, having neither seen nor met Uzumaki Kushina before.

"I guess." Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly.

Before she could say anything else in response, a black convertible pulled to a stop a few feet away. A teenager, probably aged around 17 or 18, stepped out, reaching up to remove the sunglasses he was wearing as he pushed the door closed behind him.

"Hey, Aniki! _**(1)**_" Sasuke took off running towards the –to Sakura– stranger, face almost splitting in two, what with how wide he was grinning.

Sakura watched awestruck, as she saw a completely different side to the Uchiha. Normally, Sasuke was cool, composed, almost unnaturally so for a boy his age. She only saw him let loose, play and laugh when he was around Naruto, or the way-too-quiet girl in their class – Hinata and her brother, Neji.

"I thought Otou-san _**(2)**_ was picking me up today? Ne, Aniki, will you take me to the park later?" the questions tumbled out in a rush when he reached him. "I did all my homework already while I was in class during free time!"

Sakura watched as the older and much taller Uchiha squatted so he was eye level with his brother.

"Sorry, Sasuke. I have a lot to do today. Dad's going to be working late tonight, and I left Mom preparing dinner." His hand darted out, and he flicked Sasuke's forehead with a finger. "Maybe another time."

Sasuke pouted and rubbed at his forehead. "That's what you always say, Aniki!" he complained.

Itachi shook his head, chuckling lightly when he suddenly grabbed the still pouting –and unsuspecting– Sasuke and without warning hefted him up.

Sakura watched on, stunned.

Now…now Sasuke was laughing, loudly and without restraint like the child he was – but never acted as – as his brother picked him up to set him on his shoulders.

And she was suddenly envious. Both because she was an only child, and wished she had a sibling of her own; and also because, she'd never seen anyone make Sasuke laugh like that, and his brother did so, so easily.

She continued to watch the two brothers interact for a minute or so more, fascinated by this side of her crush.

_**Sasuke-kun's brother sure looks a lot like him**_, she mused absently as she stared at the older Uchiha.

As if feeling her eyes on him, the eldest of the two brothers glanced away from his brother long enough to notice her watching them from a few feet away. Was that an Uchiha thing? She wondered. How'd they know when someone was looking at them?

Cheeks flushing self-consciously, Sakura back-peddled a step, hands clasping behind her as she ducked her head to hide her face behind her bangs.

"Who's your friend, Otouto?"

She heard Sasuke answer as his brother set him back down on the ground, and his answer had her head snapping back upright.

"Oh, that's my friend, Sakura. You know, the one I was telling you about." Sasuke turned to beam at Sakura, pulling on his brother's hand to present him to Sakura, much like Naruto would show off a shiny, new toy sometimes. "Sakura, this is my Aniki, Itachi." He introduced, pride evident in his voice.

Shocked, Sakura's wide, startled eyes darted from brother to brother in her awe and surprise.

_**What'd Sasuke say?**_

Sakura had been wondering just what she was to Sasuke, hoping incessantly that he didn't think of her as annoying, as he did all girls in their class – except Hinata for some reason, probably because he figured she didn't like him like the rest of the girls did – but to hear him actually label her a friend, she was for lack of a better term, dumbfounded.

Sakura mentally shook herself. Sasuke was pretty smart, their teachers even said he could be a genius. It really shouldn't have surprised her that he'd figured out what she was up to. He knew, obviously. About the fruit, and what she was trying to do.

_**Wait….has he figured out that I like him, too?**_

Sakura tensed at the thought, eyes darting to the younger Uchiha.

Sasuke was still smiling, the smile she used to now, having calmed down some. Itachi, on the other hand, when she glanced at him, his head was tilted a little to the side as he studied her, and Sakura squirmed, feeling as if his eyes were staring right through her.

But then his eyes closed in a small but nonetheless friendly smile. "It's nice to meet you, Sakura-chan."

She flinched. "O-oh, i-it's nice to meet you too!" she squeaked, bowing a little.

Itachi chuckled lightly. "Well, she's awful cute, isn't she, Otouto?"

"Aniki!" Sasuke frowned up at his brother, unamused.

Itachi looked anything but repentant. "Maa, I'm only teasing, Sasuke."

"Let's just go, already." Sasuke huffed. "See you next week, Sakura." He said in parting, absently waving at the pinkette as he stomped away to his brother's car.

Instead of following after Sasuke like Sakura expected him to, Itachi squatted in front of her, much like he'd done just a few minutes before with Sasuke.

"So, you're the '_friend_' that Otouto says is trying to figure out what his favorite fruit is, ey?"

Sakura flinched at the confirmation that Sasuke indeed knew what she was trying to do, but Itachi only smiled.

"Tell me, Sakura-chan," he continued amiably, "why do you want to know what his favorite fruit is, so much?"

"I just want to share with Sasuke-kun, like he shared with me." The answer left Sakura's mouth before she had time to process.

When Itachi raised an eyebrow at her, she hastily tried to explain.

"I-I mean…Sasuke-kun…he shared friendship with me…like Naruto did. No one else did because they all think I'm weird because of my hair...and my forehead 'cause it's so big. But Sasuke-kun and Naruto didn't say anything about it, and they chose to share their friendship with me, when they didn't have to. Plus… I know Sasuke-kun doesn't like girls, because he thinks they're annoying…but he chose to be my friend anyways. Sooo… I just wanted to share something with him, too."

Itachi stared at the little girl in front of him, mind calculating, being sharp as he was. He didn't miss the fact that she only seemed to add the _**'-kun'**_ honorific to _**Sasuke**_'s name.

"Well, what about Naruto-kun?" he asked. "Aren't you going to share anything with him, too? He must like a different fruit than Sasuke, ne?"

"I already have something I share with Naruto." Sakura grinned. "We share candy all the time!" her grin slipped a little, but she continued speaking nonetheless. "But…Sasuke-kun doesn't like sweets, so I feel bad because he's left out whenever I share with Naruto. So, I thought maybe I could share my fruit with him…but I don't know what he likes, so he always says no when I offer to share." She finished sadly, grin having completely faded.

"I see." Itachi looked thoughtful for a second, and then his hand reached out and he ruffled her hair, smiling gently. "That's really nice of you, Sakura-chan."

"R-really?" Sakura stuttered, blushing. "Th-thank you."

"Aniki! What are you still doing over there?" Sasuke called from the car window. "Let's go already!"

Itachi and Sakura chuckled at Sasuke, as the elder Uchiha stood to leave.

"Otouto likes tomatoes."

"Wha-" Sakura's mouth fell open.

"It was nice meeting you, Sakura-chan." Itachi waved over his shoulder as he walked away, leaving a gaping Sakura to stare after him.

**_XOXOXOXOXOXOX_**

"What took you so long?" Sasuke asked suspiciously, when Itachi finally climbed into the driver's seat.

"Nothing, nothing," Itachi replied absently as they buckled their seatbelts. "I was just having a little chat with Sakura-chan that's all."

"_**Why**_?" Sasuke probed, still watching his brother suspiciously.

Itachi chuckled, reaching over to flick Sasuke's forehead again. "It's a big brother thing, Sasuke."

"Whatever." Sasuke rubbed his forehead and pouted at the non-answer he'd gotten. "You better not have scared her, like you did with Naruto when you first met him…although that had been funny."

"Me, scare her? Perish the thought, Otouto," Itachi replied, still smiling as he maneuvered them through the early afternoon traffic. "Perish the thought."

**Day 6: THE NEXT MONDAY**

"Sakura-chaaaan!"

Sakura sighed, just managing to restrain from jumping out of her skin at the sudden yell, courtesy of none other than an excited Naruto. Wondering what had excited him so; Sakura warily approached their usual table, pleasantly surprised to see Hinata sitting next to Naruto.

She'd only spoken to her a few times, but Sakura had the impression Hinata was a very nice girl, despite being so shy. If they spent more time together, she was sure they could become great friends, and it would be nice to have another friend besides Ino, that was a girl.

"Hey Naruto, hey Hinata-chan." She greeted when she reached the table, taking her usual seat, adjacent to Sasuke's.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! You finally got here!"

"H-hi, Sakura-chan." Hinata greeted shyly.

Sakura smiled, setting her lunchbox on the table, half-pivoting to send Sasuke a small smile. "Hey, Sasuke-kun."

"Hey."

"So, would you like to share my fruit today, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke paused, looking at her skeptically. She'd never asked like that before. "Depends." He answered slowly. "What is it today?"

Sakura smiled, flipping her lunchbox open and retrieving said fruit to hold it out to him.

Sasuke gaped at it for a few seconds, but then realization flickered across his face, and he looked back at her. "Aniki told you, didn't he?"

"Y-yeah." Sakura chuckled nervously, rubbing her cheek with an index finger.

"Figures." Sasuke scoffed. "It's kinda too bad he did though. It was kinda fun having you guess every day."

She had to restrain herself hard and cross her legs under the table to keep from doing a happy dance, when Sasuke finally, _**finally**_ accepted the tomato she was offering.

"Thanks." He said, smiling faintly before biting into it.

"Y-you're welcome." Sakura beamed, cheeks flushing.

"HEY! TOMATOES AREN'T FRUIT! THEY'RE VEGGIES!"

Sasuke and Sakura cringed at the loud yell.

"A-actually, tomatoes _**are**_ fruits, N-Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered, focusing only on her own lunchbox when the blonde's head whipped in her direction. "They're both fruits a-and vegetables."

"Ohh, wow, Hinata-chan is really smart." Naruto said, almost in awe. "I never knew that."

"Everyone knows that, moron."

"Who asked you?!" Naruto shot back, quickly growing annoyed. "And who has a vegetable for a favorite fruit anyways, you weirdo!"

"This is really good." Sasuke said to Sakura, ignoring the blonde, who just rolled his eyes and chose to ignore him right back. Because it made sense to him to do so.

"I'm glad." Sakura nodded. "My mom picked it fresh this morning."

"Picked?" Sasuke repeated, looking at the tomato again, as if in a whole new light.

"Yes, my mom has a really big garden in our yard where she grows them. There's also carrots, radishes, turnips and onions."

"Whoa, that's so cool." Naruto folded his arms behind his head. "It's like you have your own grocery store at home."

"I guess." Sakura chuckled, and then bit her lip. "Would…would you like to come and see it sometime…the garden, I mean?"

"Eh? Really?" Naruto lowered his arms, straightening in his seat. "That would be awesome! I've never been to Sakura-chan's place before!"

"Y-yeah!" Sakura beamed. "You can come too, if you want, Hinata-chan?"

"Un. I would r-really like that." Hinata smiled, nodding at the pinkette.

"Great." Sakura grinned wider. "Wh-what about you, Sasuke-kun? Do you…want to come too?"

Sasuke looked at the half-eaten tomato in his hand for a moment, and then looked up at Sakura. "Sure." He nodded, a corner of his mouth quirking upwards.

"Awesome! It's settled then!" Naruto cheered, pumping his fist in the air. "Part-ay at Sakura-chan's hous-"

"We're _**not**_ having a party, moron." Sasuke cut in.

Sakura and Hinata giggled when the two boys started bickering again.

"Hanging out with them is always _**fun**_, ne, Hinata-chan?" Sakura asked with a giggle.

Hinata nodded once, still chuckling. "I-it's too bad Neji-nii-san isn't h-here, he would have g-gotten them to stop."

"Oh hey, where _**is**_ Neji-kun today?" Sakura asked.

"Neji got the chicken-pox so he didn't come to school today, so I invited Hinata-chan to have lunch with us so she wouldn't have to eat alone!" Naruto cut in, answering for the blushing Hyuuga.

"Oh, well that was nice of you, Naruto." Sakura smiled at the blonde, and then turned to Hinata. "But you can always have lunch here if you want, Hinata-chan. It's nice to have another girl here too, for once." She said, glad to finally be able to share her friendship with the other girl, just as the guys had done for her.

"O-okay." Hinata nodded again, smile widening a little.

"Awesome! And 'The Ramen Squad' has another official member!" Naruto cheered. "Ne, Sakura-chan, you think you can convince Neji to join us, too?"

"For the last time, we are not going to call ourselves 'The Ramen Squad', moron."

"Shut it, Sasuke! No one asked for your opinion!"

"Oh yes, _**definitely**_ fun." Sakura whispered to Hinata, and the two girls started giggling as the boys got caught up in another heated argument.

**X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_**

**10 years later. CHRISTMAS**

As she exited her apartment complex, hurriedly rushing down the concrete steps, Sakura had only one thought in mind.

_**Crap, I am so late.**_

Glancing at her wrist watch, the now 21-year-old grimaced, breaking into a sprint when she hit the pavement.

She ran, waving and shouting a 'Merry Christmas' whenever she passed a familiar face, speed neither accelerating nor decelerating –testament to how the three hours she spent in the local gym with Ino and Hinata every week were paying off – as she made her way to the town's central park.

By the time the park gates loomed into view however, she was panting for breath, but she didn't let up, running through the open gates and down the path she now had memorized, until the bench they'd agreed to meet at was in her line of sight.

_**Of course he was on time. Perfectionist.**_ She thought dryly when she spotted his raven head.

He was standing with his back to her, phone to his ear in what seemed to be an annoying conversation, if the tense set of his broad shoulders was any indication.

"For the millionth time, she isn't here yet," he was saying, baritone voice rumbling smoothly as he spoke.

He turned around when the sound of her boots hitting the pavement as she ran reached his ears. A small smile quirked one corner of his lips upwards, and he raised a hand in greeting. The smile was soon wiped off his face, however, when whoever was on the other end of the line spoke.

"What? She didn't stand me u- Stop being an idiot, you moron."

_**Ah, he's talking to Naruto**_. Sakura snorted as she slowed her pace. That explained that.

Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh, accompanied by an eye-roll. "We'll get there when we get ther- Shut up!"

With a low growl of frustration, he ended the call and snapped the device shut, glaring at it as if he were seriously contemplating throwing it away.

"You're late." He stated when she was near enough to hear his low drawl.

Sakura stopped an arm's length away from him, bending over to lean on her knees for a bit before she straightened, still panting. "Yeah," she chuckled breathlessly, "sorry… I made a …stop on my… way here." She explained in between pants.

She grinned up at him, viridian eyes crinkling at the corners, and he could almost see the green of her irises softening as she gazed up at his face. He resisted the urge to shake his head at her. Sakura was always like that, openly displaying her emotions like an open book for whosever wished so to see.

It was annoying as hell…but also…endearing in a way, not that he'd admit.

She was still panting through her grin, her cheeks flushed with color, whether from the cold, exertion from the run or something else, he wasn't entirely sure, nor did he particularly care to ponder over it. Her hair, which she still wore in straight, pink locks flowing down to her mid-back, had been tousled by the wind during her run, and now fell in unruly strands around her face.

Noticing him staring at it, she absently started running her fingers through it to tame it a little.

He coughed lightly, slightly embarrassed at having been caught more or less staring, he said the first thing that came to mind to distract himself.

"You might want to not talk until you can breathe properly again." He chastised as they both sank down to sit on the bench. "And where are your gloves?" he added when he noticed the slender fingers running through the pink tresses were ungloved.

"Oh well gee, sorry mom, I forgot 'em because I was kinda in a hurry, because _**someone**_ gets a little impatient and cranky when he's kept waiting." Sakura grumbled sullenly, breathing slowly returning to normal as the adrenaline-fueled blood pumping through her veins slowed.

"Hn." He replied intelligently. "Where did you stop?" he asked, since she refused to listen to him, and opted for conversation instead of relaxing like a normal person would want to do after an exerting sprint.

_**Not that she's normal**_. He reasoned.

"The grocer's. I had to pick up some things for the party. Ino-pig and I are making eggnog later."

He could hear the smile in her voice even though he couldn't see her face, as she'd turned away from him to rustle through a bag he had just then noticed she'd been carrying – just how distracted was he? – She quickly turned back to him when she found what she wanted, palm outstretched.

"Here."

She was holding a perfectly ripened, unblemished tomato in her palm, its skin enticingly red.

"You got me a tomato for Christmas?" he deadpanned, staring at the fruit/vegetable sitting on her palm.

"Of course not," She giggled. "You'll get your actual present later, dummy. I got you one just 'cause I wanted to." She shrugged, and then fluttered her lashes at him with an 'innocent' smile. "And besides, it's not like you don't like them."

"Hn."

With the way she was smiling up at him again, he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at her. She was doing it again, he noted as he took the fruit from her. Being annoyingly obvious. Ten years of knowing her and she had yet to stop that annoying habit of being…well, annoyingly obvious.

Oh, if the Dobe ever heard just how his exceptionally wide vocabulary had just been decimated, he'd never hear the end of it.

"Wow, that was fast." She teased when he swallowed the last bite. "You practically inhaled it."

He twitched when she started laughing, obviously at the look on his face.

"Let's just go before the Dobe starts blowing up my-"

As if on cue, his phone started ringing, but he didn't need to look at the caller ID to know who it was. Groaning, he pulled the device out and pressed ignore, sending the blonde a quick text instead.

"Oh hey, that reminds me, I got something else!" Sakura started to rummage through the bag again, this time coming up with a tiny, tiny little thing in between her thumb and index finger.

Sasuke was glad he'd finished his tomato, because he was pretty sure he'd have choked had he still been eating when Sakura pulled out the small sprig of mistletoe.

He stared at the small, seemingly innocent little piece of greenery, and the grinning girl holding it.

"Well. That's a dirty trick."

"Huh?" Sakura blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about? After what happened on Halloween, I thought you'd be ecstatic to take revenge on Naruto with me."

"Naruto?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What's he got to do with-"

"What's he not got to do with it?" Sakura cut in, now just as confused. "I was going to plant this above him and Hinata later tonigh- …wait a minute…"

Sasuke didn't like the gleam in the pinkette's eye…or the way a slightly scary grin was slowly stretching her lips.

"You didn't think I was going to use this on you, did you…Sasuke-_**kun**_?" she purred.

Sasuke felt his cheeks warm a little despite himself. She hadn't added the honorific in years. He refused to let the almost imperceptible flush in his cheeks escalate into a blush of any kind however. And it mattered little that that was exactly what he'd thought she was doing.

He was startled out of his musing however when Sakura suddenly started laughing, and it was no ordinary laugh either. She laughing loudly and heartily, a finger pointed at his face, her other hand still holding the mistletoe up.

"Oh, you should –hahahahaha- see your f-f-face," she spluttered, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "P-priceless!"

Giving up entirely, her eyes slid shut as she laughed, hand around her stomach now, much to a slightly flustered Sasuke's chagrin.

_**tap.**_

Laughter immediately dying in her throat, green eyes flew open, blinking wildly.

Her free hand came up slowly, so that her fingers brushed her lips.

Lips she was _**pretty**_ sure Sasuke had just kissed a second ago.

"You're holding mistletoe." He deadpanned and then grabbed the bag she'd put on the bench between them, and stood.

Sakura's jaw dropped.

Sasuke coughed once, a very faint pink dusting his cheeks. He turned, back to her, and shoved his free hand in his pocket. "We should leave. Yamanaka will kill you if we're late for her stupid party."

Sakura closed her mouth, face on fire as she slowly stood, and wordlessly followed after him, the Uchiha having started walking already.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn?" It didn't escape his notice that the '-kun' was back. And he smirked.

"Are you blushing?" she asked, voice teasing.

"No." he snapped, smirk disappearing instantly. "I _**don't**_ blush."

"Then why are your ears red?" she pressed, smiling coyly.

"Frostbite from sitting in the cold so long." he answered. "It's your fault for being late."

Sakura chuckled, and for a while they walked in silence, the sound of the recently fallen snow crunching under their boots being the only sounds to be heard. It was Christmas after all, so it wasn't surprising that the streets were all but deserted. Everyone was indoors with their families.

As they ambled along, fingers slipped out of a pocket to gingerly wrap around her chilled ones, and Sakura stumbled a bit, a blush that could give Hinata a run for her money covering her face.

She looked up at Sasuke's face out of the corner of her eye to see if he was aware that he was willingly holding her hand.

He didn't turn to look at her –as he always did whenever she looked at him, that weird Uchiha thing of his. She grinned, his failure to look at her confirmation enough that he'd done it on purpose.

"Merry Christmas, Sasuke-kun."

"Hn." The fingers around hers tightened minutely. "Merry Christmas, Sakura."

**X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X**

**FIN**

**X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X**

**Aniki = Big brother (1) Otou-san = Father (2)**

**And that concludes my first ever, and maybe not last, SasuSaku oneshot. Who knows when my muse will decide to wake up and give me an idea?**

**Soo, I didn't do any one-shots for the festive season, and now that it's passed, I felt kinda bad, so I squeezed my idea into this, hope the owner doesn't mind (^o^)**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and a review to let me know what you thought of it would be nice.**

**HAPPY NEW YEAR's! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to brush my teeth, all the sweet in here made my teeth ache.**


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